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ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL RIGHTS WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Citizens in democratic societies seek to be involved in the administration of their states, both at the local, national, and supranational levels (Bingham et al., 2005). Civil societies survive based on these administrative systems (Farazmand, 2010). The decisions of elected representatives at any level impact citizens' lives and daily activities tremendously. Although not a new 'nationality,' EU citizenship was a critical component of the EU membership package (Barbulescu and Favell, 2020). The rights linked to a legal status of citizenship are derived from EU treaties and national citizenship laws, which are viewed as a crucial part of the EU membership package (Shaw, J., 2019). Citizenship law serves several social purposes in societies, including ensuring a steady population, which is perhaps the most crucial, particularly through the transfer of membership between generations, since most persons receive citizenship involuntarily at birth (Glenn, E., 2000).
On the other hand, the laws determine the procedure for becoming a valid member of society in territorial inclusion by clearly stating the conditions under which long-term residents may become bona fide citizens (Chertoff, 2022). They also spell out the possibility of holding or becoming dual or multiple citizens (Spiro, 2019). They offer clarification on the continuing ties that an individual may have with a state and other forms of genuine links for those who may have left the state but remain attached to it by descent, being born in the state of naturalisation (Bauböck, 2009). These laws provide for how to acquire citizenship and how one can lose it through any means, including voluntary renunciation, absence from the state, or such acts considered by the state as sufficient to strip an individual of citizenship (Macklin, 2014). In the context of our research, citizenship laws also make extensive provisions that spell out the political responsibilities, rights, and duties of recognised citizens within its jurisdiction, including the determination of who can be voted for or vote in elections and the other rights and civic duties of citizens within the territory (Bauböck, 2019). Citizenship of the EU was established by provisions of the Maastricht Treaty, which introduced the European Community Treaty (Toader, 2019), the European citizenship enables European citizens to participate in the community construction process in a more meaningful manner (Bendix and Bendix, 2017).
Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishes two attributes of the concept of European citizenship (van den Brink, 2022). Accordingly, the citizenship of the European Union depends on national citizenship and does not replace it. Also, the citizenship of the European Union does not confer on a person the automatic right to the citizenship of another member state of the European Union. Political rights are integral to citizenship, and in the European Union, the recognition of political rights came after the unification and economic integration of the European Union (Chalmers and Szyszczak, 2018.) The economic unification process is not the end goal of the European Union but rather part of the process towards achieving full political unification (Schäfer et al., 2021).
The citizenship of the European community confers on individuals wide-ranging privileges and responsibilities (Naujoks, 2020). These rights are contained in the treaty creating the union and are accruing to all the citizens of the European Union through their member states (Shaw, 2006). Some of the more pronounced rights, including those conferring economic advantages, have been the subject of extensive, distinct research (de Vries and Pulice, 2018). The focus of this research the specific political rights accruing to citizens in the union.
The research aims:
EU citizenship has a supranational status attached to every EU member state citizen (Tan, 2021). The citizenship of the EU strings along with it the introduction of electoral rights, which is a core dimension of EU citizenship (Seubert, 2018). These citizenship rights have some institutional implications, and they may be at loggerheads with the protection of local identity. Universal suffrage rights may sometimes contend with voting laws in various jurisdictions within the European Union (Alarian, 2021). The introduction of political rights within the EU is fundamental to creating EU citizenship. It was a significant step forward in achieving the integration of the EU nationals regardless of their nationalities (Ferrera, 2019). Some have argued that the promise of political rights within the EU has not fully materialised, given that there are still inconsistencies in the exercise of voting rights across the EU (Jacobs, 2007). There are still tensions between local electoral rules and the strong desire to maintain a local identity, limiting the achievement of the supranational aspirations of ensuring equal rights to vote for all (Jacobs, 2007). The courts have weighed in on voting rights within the EU and broader issues around EU citizenship, which has not successfully settled the goal of ensuring that political rights are exercised (Maas, 2007). Thus, there is a call for more legal actions within the European Union to guarantee the exercise of political rights. As far back as 1975, the European Community had expressed a proposition in developing European Law in the context of special rights for 'European citizens' advocating for complete assimilation of nationals regarding political rights (Shuibhne, 2010). The protection of the exercise of political rights within the EU is represented in the treaty of Maastricht, which established EU citizenship (Conant, L., 2021). Before the treaty, the exercise of political rights and participation in the political process within the EU had been enjoyed by citizens of member states of the EU since the introduction of direct elections to the EU Parliament in 1979 by universal suffrage. However, the establishment of EU citizenship has entitled recognised nationals of the EU to exercise new political rights. The EU citizenship is provided for in Article 8 of the European Community Treaty (1992) (Now Article 9 of the EU Treaty) that "every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union" (Behrens, K., 2021). The citizenship of the EU complements national citizenship and provides for a myriad of rights, thus creating a new status (Weinzierl, 2021). The EU Functioning Treaty in Article 20(2) specifies the various rights that citizens of the union enjoy. They include free movement, voting, and standing as candidates in elections to the European Parliament and in municipal elections in their Member State of residence and the ability to apply to the European parliament or ombudsman. The right to free movement is a well-known aspect of EU citizenship and has been part of the EU since its creation (Barbulescu and Favell, 2020). The entitlement to vote and stand as a candidate at both municipal elections and European Parliament elections in their Member State of residence, when this differs from their Member State of nationality, represents the most innovative of these rights. The political rights contained in the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union in Article 22 and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights embody the provisions for political rights (Lock, 2019). Directives 93/10911 and 94/8012 contain detailed arrangements and derogations for exercising the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in European Parliament and local elections for EU citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (Khadar and Shaw, 2014). These new rights were essentially aimed at abolishing the nationality requirement to exercise the right to vote and stand as a candidate subject. The rights directly contrasted with local electoral laws in several EU nation-states. The provisions of the new political rights in the EU triggered profound changes in the constitutional systems of several EU Member States. Though it had been construed as an exercise in public relations, the establishment of the Treaty of Maastricht constituted a transformation of the European Union and extended the cooperation among member states beyond economic matters and the common market (Kouroutakis, 2021). It creates a stronger linkage between the peoples of the Member States. The creation of EU citizenship removes restrictions to exercising voting rights of nationals living in a state that is not their origin, essentially making them cease being foreigners in the other EU Member States. Scholars have cast aspersions to the success of this integrated European Union based on the limited rights of EU citizens to vote and stand in elections in the Member States where they are resident if they lack the nationality of that state (Arrighi et al., 2013). Their reservation is especially about the fact that they have no right to participate in the national or regional elections in the state in which they are resident. Being a European citizen guarantees the enjoyment of political rights, and every adult EU citizen has the right to vote in their country of origin or country of residence. However, these rights are not fully exercised as fully as possible. Scholars have also noted that whereas economic rights have been well established and expanded, there is a systemic failure to synchronise this growth to political rights (Kouroutakis, 2021).
This research aims to identify the various political rights accruing to citizens of the European Union as enshrined in the various treaties and other such documents within the European Union. The research will describe the political dimensions of citizenship rights within the European Union and the limitations of these political rights. The research will establish the guarantee of these political rights as integral to achieving the integration and unification of the European Union as a single political entity. This research follows the qualitative research methodology. It will rely on secondary sources of materials, published and unpublished. Internet sources are also widely referred to. The study will analyse primary sources such as international treaties, local statutes, and case law.
The protection of the political rights of citizens in a democratic society is essential to the enjoyment of other citizenship rights. The administration of a country is essential, and in democratic societies, the elected representatives of the people carry out the administrative tasks in the state. The concept of citizenship within the EU and citizens' rights, duties, and responsibilities will be highlighted, while the political rights of citizens will be analysed.
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Last updated: Feb 16, 2022 04:54 PM
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